EXIOPOL

The Integrated Project “A New Environmental Accounting Framework Using Externality Data and Input-Output Tools for Policy Analysis” (FP 6, start date: March 2007, duration: 48 months) has the following objectives: (a) to synthesize and develop estimates of the external costs of key environmental impacts for Europe, (b) to set up an operational and detailed EU-25 input-output table with environmental extensions in which as many of these estimates as possible are included, allowing the estimation of environmental impacts and external costs of different economic sector activities, final consumption activities and resource consumption for countries in the EU, (c) to apply the results of the external cost estimates and environmentally extended Input-Output analysis for the analysis of policy questions of importance, as well as to evaluate the value and impact of past research in external costs on policy-making in the EU. The environmentally extended Input-Output table for the EU25 will be embedded in a global context. This is essential to be able to take pollution and externalities embedded in imports to the EU25 into account, but also to be able to analyse the effects of sustainability measures taken in Europe on the economic competitiveness of the EU25.

The objective for this tool is to become a powerful support instrument for a broad range of EU environmental and general economic policies. It will allow for analysis, monitoring and improvement assessment of issues such as the total environmental impacts and external costs per industry sector, per final consumption activity, per final product group, related to imports to and exports from the EU25 and per resource used. By splitting the total demand into consumption patterns of different target groups, analysis of the life cycle impacts and external costs per target group, life style pattern, etc. becomes possible. The tool will allow for structural path analysis and contribution analysis (i.e. which sectors or processes contribute to what extent to impacts or external costs related to products or resources used, and if these processes are located in the EU or are related to imports).

It is an explicit goal of the project that the database is handed over for structural maintenance and use to one of the relevant Commission’s services. DG JRC/IPTS, in addition to participating in the project as a consortium member, is in charge for organizing the heritage of EXIOPOL in due time. Exiopol is coordinated by the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM). Core partners are the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), the University of Bath (UBATH), and the Centre of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University (CML).

DG JRC-IPTS has the lead in the institutional embedment of results at the EU level and in liaising with other European institutions.

The mission of the JRC is to provide customer-driven scientific and technical support for the conception, development, implementation and monitoring of EU policies. As a service of the European Commission, the JRC functions as a reference centre of science and technology for the Union. Close to the policy-making process, it serves the common interest of the Member States, while being independent of special interests, whether private or national.